Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has reportedly called a meeting between Donald Trump’s son and a Russian lawyer during the 2016 election campaign “treasonous” – drawing an angry response from the US president.

“Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind”, Trump, who sacked Bannon in August, said in a statement.

“Steve doesn’t represent my base,” he said, adding that Bannon is “only in it for himself”.

Trump’s comments on Wednesday came in response to the release of excerpts from the upcoming book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, written by investigative journalist Michael Wolff.

According to US media, lawyers for President Trump are seeking to stop the release of the book which is due to take place on Tuesday.

The excerpts were first reported by British newspaper The Guardian, which obtained an early copy of the book.

The release of excerpts comes as Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, is leading an investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegation.